Why was I born in Texas again?

Or, more accurately, why the hell was my family in Texas long enough for me to be 3?

Texas politician proposes 100 percent game tax

Oh, but it gets better. His other proposed reforms:

$10,000 per abortion tax.

50% soda tax.

A 50% grease tax.

And, of course, because it's Texas...

A repeal on all Alcoholic Beverage laws.

Wow.

Just...

Wow.

Why Women in Videogames Have Huge Breasts

*whisper whisper*

Okay, besides all gamers being horny 13-35 year old men...

Anyway, everyone knows that women are, well, disproportionately sized in video games. One very impressive example is Taki from the Soul Calibur series. The reason for this is usually attribiuted to an overactive male libido. And, well, yes, that is a factor, but its more than that. It's actually mostly a logistical reaon. At least originally.

Lets use this image as an example:

Now, I know, its a small image. Why is it so small? That's the actual size of an NPC about twenty feet away in World of Warcraft. Small image, but you can pretty much figure its female. Breasts, long hair, midriff, dress and slight build. You'd figure that long hair and the slight build would be enough.

In case you want proof, here's the same NPC, but in a much closer perspective. Yeah, that's exagurrated.

However, long hair and a slight build are not always good indicators of gender in videogames. Take this as an example: Tidus from Final Fantasy X. Girlish hair and a shrimpy build denote "girl" to most people, especailly since there's no facial hair. Besides, girls can have short hair. And so all that's left is, well, their chest and clothing.

And, while it makes sense for a peasant girl to wear a dress, a warrior is probably going to be decked out in heavy armor. So there goes that criteria.

So, in order to distinguish male from female, game developers have to exagurate. They have to take into account the fact that gamers will usually be far away from the characters, visually. And, well, there's no such thing as overkill...

That doesn't excuse some games from being deliberately obscene when they really don't need to. This just explains why there seems to be this universal feeling of silicone. Nevertheless, remember: It's the perspective, not the marketing that causes it.

Initially.

Then marketing gets their hands on the character models, and, well...

My current pattern for the next few hours...

WHEEE! INTARNET WHIMSYNESS FTW!

*turn to TV*

Another attack via airplanes! By Al Queda? OMG OMG OMG *STRESS*

*turn to computer*

HEHEHE! GOGO WEBCOMICS!

*turn to TV*

Oh, man, I really hope this is a hoax. But it's 1/19, or 119, and way too similar to 911 for my tastes. Could it be real?

*turn to computer*

DIE YOU SOB NEWBS! KILL KILL KILL PWNED! /spit!

You get the idea...

Funny things about the Computer Science building...

In going from the computer lab on the thrid floor to my lecture hall on the first, I passed three mens bathrooms.

Didn't see a ladies room around...

Art in Games

I was talking with my sister over the break, talking about video games and movies and how art is seen in the latter and not so much in the former. About how there are no games made purely for the meaning inherient instead of for entertainment. Meanwhile films with artistic meaning are made all the time, with meanings about life, the universe, and everything. There's no Brokeback Mountain in the industry, not even close.

Largely this is because games are still, well, games. Fun diversions from modern life. True, the industry is young in terms of storytelling, but that's hardly an excuse. There hasn't exactly been a "Birth of a Nation" in the gaming industry yet, although I'm not entirely sure if that's a bad thing.

Then I played a game called Indigo Prophecy. An Xbox game with a unique control system (alternates between button mashing and Simon Says) and a very cinematic flair, and manages to be very fun despite a story that starts only a bit wierd and then just gets increasingly surreal as time goes on.

There is this one sequence near the beginning that is a good example of an artistic method that is rather unique to games, something that I had forgotten entirely about.

The basic story of Indigo Prophecy is that you've killed a man. Sorta. You didn't have control of your body when doing it, and you've got no idea what caused you to do it. When you left the scene of the crime, before anyone found the body, a cop saw your face, and you're pretty much the only suspect.

Anyway, its the next day, and you're in a park. Its the middle of winter, nearby pond is frozen over, and a strange precognition ability kicks in and you see that a little kid is about to fall into the pond. And then you see that same cop. Yeah, unlikely coincidence, but these things can happen. And then the kid falls in. So, what do you do?

Do you dive in after the kid and try to save his life, even though the cop will see you, recongnize you, and probably arrest you?

Or do you turn around, walk away, and hope someone else helps him, saving your ass in exchange for the kids?

I didn't hesitate and dove right in, saved the kid, and the cop kinda let me walk away.

What movies do is they tell you about the actions and consequences of other people, what they did and how they turned out. There's no "what if" going on, except for the idle wondering of the characters and the audience. It tells you about how others turned out, and enriches your life, true, but it doesn't tell you anything about you.

Games CAN do that. It's self-discovery. You're not finding out what happened to these two men who fell in love but couldn't bring themselves to let it be known. You're finding out what you might do in a situation that, hopefully, you'll never find yourself in.

BTW: Play this game! Not only is it clever and innovative, its one of the few games that actually allows you to interact with the plot! We need more of these!

This is not January...

Weather in Irvine today: Low of 49 (not to unexpected), High of 82.

I repeat...

High of 82!

I mean, come on, how is this January weather?

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go to class in a t-shirt and shorts...